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STATEMENT BY SENATOR J. W. FULBRIGHT
[March 1, 1954]
(For immediate release)
Yesterday the Senator from Wisconsin ( Mr. McCarthy)
gave the Senate Appropriations Committee a distorted
version of a statement I made last week to an Associated
Press reporter. At no time did I state that I "would not
give the FBI any information on subversives or anything
else" as Senator McCarthy states. Obviously, in the
unlikely event that I would obtain such information, I
would promptly transmit it to the FBI.
Nor did I "attack" the FBI, as Senator McCarthy
states. It may be that Senator McCarthy is unable to
discern that a Senator may make a statement without its
being an "attack."
I expressed my personal opinion that the McCarthy
Committee had obtained information from FBI files. I
also stated that I did not know how the information had
been obtained. One way in which this might have
occurred is through other agencies having access to
FBI material.
The question I posed involves the mis-use of such
material. If it is leaked or given to committees and
it is mis-used it can destroy the effectiveness of the
FBI, I am concerned that the FBI, as our foremost
safeguard against subversive activities, not be destroyed
by the mis-use of Its confidential material.
The theory upon which the FBI obtains information
from citizens is that its sources aro and will remain
confidential. This is important, first to preserve the
effectiveness of the FBI; and second to protest citiaens
against the use of un-evaluated material. Some of the
facts upon which I based my opinion that Senator McCarthy
has had access to FBI information are set out below.
Senator McCarthy, several times in the course of
the Fort Monmouth hearings, indicated or asserted
knowledge of his part as to what information witnesses

STATEMENT BY SENATOR J. W. FULBRIGHT
[March 1, 1954]
(For immediate release)
Yesterday the Senator from Wisconsin ( Mr. McCarthy)
gave the Senate Appropriations Committee a distorted
version of a statement I made last week to an Associated
Press reporter. At no time did I state that I "would not
give the FBI any information on subversives or anything
else" as Senator McCarthy states. Obviously, in the
unlikely event that I would obtain such information, I
would promptly transmit it to the FBI.
Nor did I "attack" the FBI, as Senator McCarthy
states. It may be that Senator McCarthy is unable to
discern that a Senator may make a statement without its
being an "attack."
I expressed my personal opinion that the McCarthy
Committee had obtained information from FBI files. I
also stated that I did not know how the information had
been obtained. One way in which this might have
occurred is through other agencies having access to
FBI material.
The question I posed involves the mis-use of such
material. If it is leaked or given to committees and
it is mis-used it can destroy the effectiveness of the
FBI, I am concerned that the FBI, as our foremost
safeguard against subversive activities, not be destroyed
by the mis-use of Its confidential material.
The theory upon which the FBI obtains information
from citizens is that its sources aro and will remain
confidential. This is important, first to preserve the
effectiveness of the FBI; and second to protest citiaens
against the use of un-evaluated material. Some of the
facts upon which I based my opinion that Senator McCarthy
has had access to FBI information are set out below.
Senator McCarthy, several times in the course of
the Fort Monmouth hearings, indicated or asserted
knowledge of his part as to what information witnesses